McConnell: ‘No Change of Heart,’ Roy Moore Will ‘Immediately’ Face an Ethics Committee If Elected

Tuesday at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said when he said the people of Alabama would decide if Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Moore wins the special election on December 12, it did not signal a “change of heart.”

McConnell said, “There has been no change of heart. I had hoped earlier he would withdraw as a candidate. That obviously is not going to happen. If he were to be elected, he will immediately have an ethics committee case. And the committee would look at the situation and give us advice.”

He continued, “I made my position perfectly clear. Let me say it again. I had hoped that Judge Moore would resign, in other words, withdraw from the race. That obviously is not going to happen. If he were to be elected, I think he will immediately have an issue with ethics committee that they would take up.”

He added, “My understanding is based on a 1969 Supreme Court decision. We would have no option but to swear him in because apparently, the Supreme Court held that the only criteria is—do you meet the Constitutional standard. As a member of the Senate, I have already predicted what will immediately begin to unfold. And we’ll see what happens if that happens.”